Something's Changed
by doggypaw93
Summary: He taught her to live, to let go. He taught her about laughter and taking chances. She taught him about love and fighting for what you believe in. They taught each other about companionship and holding on to the person you care for.


**I am so excited for this storey, I have it all planned out more or less. I know in the book, Hermione actually goes to bed after fighting with Ron, but it works better for this if she doesn't. I'm trying to keep this as canon as possible (with the exception of the relationship) but if I need to, I will change things to make it fit better.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, because clearly Fred died, which would have never happened if I wrote Harry Potter.**

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"

Fred couldn't help but stare at the scene before him and Angelina. Ron, being the prat he always is was yelling at Hermione for no other reason than she went to the ball with Krum as her date. As Harry and Ron disappeared up the stairs, Hermione sunk to the floor, sobs raking her body.

"Someone should go talk to her," Angelina worriedly said.

Fred knew she was right, but there was no way that he was going over there. Crying girls were not his expertise, especially when they were the best friend of his younger brother. "You're free to go over there."

"Fred, I barely even know her," Angelina stated. "I think you need to talk to her."

Surprised, Fred looked up at her. "You can't be serious." When she continued to stare resolutely back at him, he struggled to come up with something to say. "I barely know her. And this looks much more like an issue another female should take care of. Trust me, I have no idea what's going through her head right now."

"Fred… you know her better than I do. Plus it was your brother who upset her. You know him really well, and" Angelina smiled at him, "I think you'll know what to say. You have a really good heart you know."

Fred swelled at her compliment. He had fancied her for a while now, but never knew if she felt the same way. Sure, he nonchalantly asked her to the ball, but there had been no way he was going to admit to Ron that he was nervous about asking a girl. He wasn't necessarily expecting anything to come out of tonight, but it could possibly be a step in the right direction.

He crouched in front of Hermione, who had stopped sobbing for the most part. "Hermione?"

She looked up at him, and Fred realized as he noticed the tear drops that still clung to her eyelashes that he had never been this close to her before. As he took in her state he realized it would probably take a while and so he sat down next to her and stared at Angelina for a bit, saying nothing.

The two of them sat in silence, as more and more people left the ball. George, Lee, Katie and Alicia had joined Angelina, and all were watching him. The girls all looked worried, but Lee and George looked amused as they wondered if Fred would really be able help Hermione in any way. They both knew this was not his strongpoint.

"You know…" Hermione said quietly, refusing to look at Fred, instead she studied her hands, "you don't have to do this."

Fred looked at her. Even with her blotchy face, red eyes and her messed up hair, she still looked beautiful. He had to admit it took him by surprise when he had first seen her earlier in the night. It was the first time he realized, the loud, obnoxious, but faithful little girl that had become a part of the Weasley family had grown into a young women. And it was not just because her dress hugged her in all the right places, or that she had taken time on her appearance. It was the grace and poise she held herself with, the confidence that had radiated off of her as she danced with Krum. Fred knew plenty of girls his own age who didn't look that comfortable in their own skin.

"What do you expect me to do? Just leave you here all by yourself?"

She flashed him a grateful smile. "I think I just need to sit here for a while longer, and then go to bed and forget this whole night. Besides, I don't want you to ditch your date."

"Hey, she's the one who suggested I come over here." When he realized what he said he quickly tried to backtrack. "Not that I didn't want to help or anything but…"

"Crying girls aren't really your type?" she guessed.

He shrugged, "Something like that."

Hermione let out a little chuckle. Fred was pleased that he had cheered her up a bit, but he had a feeling she shouldn't be left alone just yet.

He didn't want to push her, to make her talk about anything if she didn't want to, so he sat in silence until she spoke. He watched as her hands fluttered over the necklace she had on. While he had never had that much interaction before with Hermione, he could tell it was a sign of nervousness.

"This wasn't exactly in my plans for the way I expected the evening to go. I honestly can't wait until it's tomorrow."

Fred studied her. "You don't want to forget the whole night do you? You looked like you were having fun dancing earlier." He looked her in the eyes. "Don't let that prat ruin it all."

"He's not a prat!" she defended her friend. Fred just stared at her. "Well… maybe he was tonight. And pretty much all last year, and part of first year." She chuckled. "And through the first task…" She turned to face him better. "Actually, how did you ever stand him during that time?"

Fred thought back to those few months when Ron, being jealous of Harry had hung out with him, George and Lee. It wasn't that they didn't like Ron, but he had been pretty sullen and grouchy. "It was pretty bad. And while we thought he was a git for abandoning Harry, we were just going to leave him on his own."

"You're a good brother."

Fred looked over to Angelina and George and the rest of his friends. They were all sitting around and laughing at something Lee was saying. While he wished he could know what it was they were saying, he had to admit his own conversation with Hermione wasn't going all that badly.

"You fancy him don't you?" He didn't know why, but all of a sudden he didn't want her to answer.

Instead, tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh shoot! No, I'm sorry. Please, don't get upset again."

Fred was not sure what to do. He awkwardly patted her on the shoulder, but that just made her cry harder. So he did the only thing he could think of a pulled her to his side and let her cry into his jacket as he wrapped his arms around her. He was too preoccupied with Hermione to notice Angelina glance back at them, or the sly smile that George had as he spotted the two of them together.

"It's stupid, I know," she said into his jacket. "And I'm not even completely positive I do fancy him, but… it hurt tonight." She glanced up at him, "Every rational part of me is telling me to run in the opposite direction of him, but some part of me still wants to be with him."

"I can't see the appeal that Ronnikins apparently has over you, but that's probably a good thing seeing as he's my brother." Hermione laughed at that.

"You're real funny," she said sarcastically.

Smirking, he replied, "Why thank you. It's a talent."

The dance was starting to dwindle down, but Fred could still see a few couples dancing. He noticed Neville was twirling his sister around quite gracefully. It was a bit surprising and odd to tell the truth.

He glanced back down to the girl in his arms, and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

"Look, I know we can't always control our feelings for people… but don't sacrifice your own happiness." He was still playing with her hair, and suddenly he found it much more interesting. "I can't say I know for sure how Ron feels for you, but tonight seemed to hint that there's something there."

"So… you're saying there's hope?" Hermione questioned. She sat up and faced him. Fred could see the hope in her eyes, and was not exactly sure how to answer her question.

"I'm saying… be careful," he sighed. He could tell she was confused. "Ron can be pretty slow on the uptake. I don't want you to stall your life because you're waiting for him. Go live a little! Maybe a boyfriend will make him jealous and he'll realize he likes you."

Hermione scoffed. "And who would want to date me?"

Fred sighed. Did she really have that low of a self-esteem? "Well," he said slyly, "I think a certain famous quidditch player might."

Shaking her head, "From serious to joking in a split-second, how does he do it?"

Fred grinned at her. All of a sudden though her shoulders sagged and Fred noticed how exhausted she was. "You should be going to bed. Come on, I'll help you to the common room."

"My stuff! I think Viktor still has it..."

"Hey!" He grabbed her arm so she wouldn't jump up and run off. "You stay here and I'll take care of it." He paused a second to make sure she understood before walking over to Angelina.

"Can you go grab Hermione's stuff? Krum has it. I'm going to walk her upstairs." He squeezed her hand in thanks. Then he turned to the rest of his friends, "Meet you guys upstairs?"

When they had all nodded in agreement he turned and headed to Hermione who was looking more and more tired by the minute. "Come on, let's go."

Wrapping his arm around her waste, and her arm around his shoulder they slowly started up the stairs. By the time they were on the third floor, Hermione was barely moving. Fred, deciding it was best not to warn her, scooped her up in his arms and, ignoring her feeble protests, carried her the rest of the way to Gryffindor tower.

"Mistletoe," Fred said, ignoring the Fat Lady's surprised stare. Reaching the bottom of the girl's staircase he knew he had to wake Hermione up, even though she looked so peaceful and calm. Sure, he had his ways of getting into the girls' dormitories, but he was unable to with her in his arms. "Hermione," he whispered into her ear, not wanting to startle her by being too loud.

She stirred in his arms, but instead of waking up she snuggled further into him. "Dammit! Why does this have to be so hard?" he whispered to himself. "Hermione. We're in the common room, I can't take you any farther."

She woke up to that, and as Fred put her down he noticed she refused to look at him. He figured if she wasn't so disoriented at the moment, she would be blushing.

"Thanks… I guess I was pretty tired."

He chuckled. "It's no problem."

As Hermione turned to head up the stairs, he grabbed her hand. She looked at him confusedly, as he brought it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Looking up at her he said, "Hermione, you really looked gorgeous tonight."

This time he could clearly see the pink tint that washed over her face. But she smiled and whispered "Thanks," before she turned and ran up the stairs.

Fred grinned to himself and turned when the portrait door opened. In came Angelina, George, Lee, Alicia and Katie. For some reason Fred was glad they hadn't been present to see what just happened, even if it was innocent.

"So, was I right? Were you able to help her out?" Angelina asked him, smiling.

"I think I did a pretty good job." Fred took Hermione's bag from Angelina, "I'll get this to her in the morning."

The six of them gathered around the fire, talking and laughing. They watched as the last stragglers came in from the dance, such as Ginny and Neville; making fun of those who they were pretty sure had spent some time snogging in the rosebushes by the looks of it.

Slowly, their party grew as some of the seventh years joined them. Fred knew normally they would bring out smuggled-in firewhiskey and butterbeer, but at the moment all of them were feeling pretty content.

Angelina watched Fred throughout the night, noting that he didn't seem to be acting much different than he normally did. But she couldn't shake the feeling that things were different. All of a sudden she spotted someone standing in the shadows of the girl's stairwell. It was hard to make out, but she was pretty positive it was Hermione. The girl had changed into pajamas and had cleaned the makeup off her face, but she was staring intently at Fred with a confused look on her face.

Angelina understood as she watched the girl. Things would not be the same for much longer. No matter how much Fred and her wanted things to be a certain way, it wasn't going to last. As Hermione turned and scampered back to her room, Angelina turned back towards Fred, determined to enjoy it while it lasted.


End file.
